Review: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Hemlock (Hemlock #1) by Kathleen Peacock

Hardcover, 400 pgs.

Published May 8th, 2012 by Katherine Tegan Books

Source: Amazon Vine

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

Anyone who knows me well knows that werewolf books aren't really my favorite.  But I do have some I've really enjoyed and when I saw some early reviews on Hemlock I knew it was one I had to try.  And I am so glad I did!  This is definitely going on my favorite werewolf books list, no doubt about it!

One thing I loved was that we were kept guessing.  I thought the mystery was fantastic and not knowing who was good and who was bad was great.  I loved how things were not always what they seemed and even when you thought someone was good we were convinced that maybe they weren't good.  As things were gradually revealed we could come up with other ideas only to be knocked down by other revelations. 

I loved the characters!  Mac wasn't an annoying girl that made stupid decisions.  She made some choices that weren't so smart, but she did them with passion and not with stupidity.  She didn't want to lose more of her friends and she'd do anything to make sure they didn't get hurt, even if it meant putting herself in danger.  I never felt annoyed with Mac and loved how she had so much love for her friends and people in her life.  The romance in this book worked well because there wasn't any instant love.  And while there was potential for a love triangle it hasn't really quite become one.  I feel pretty okay with it though and kind of think it works with this book.  Hopefully I feel the same way in the next book about that though.

I honestly could really rave and rave about this book.  It's hard for me to try to pick out something that I didn't like.  I think that the whole story line worked really well and it all felt completely unique to me.  In the description it says "filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love" and I think that's a perfect description right there.  


This was a beautiful story that had me at page one.  And while it has plenty left for us to anticipate, it didn't have a cliffhanger.  I very highly recommend you pick this one up!  

Disclosure:  I received this book for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.